3 Rules Beginning Screenwriters Need To Know - Dr. Ken Atchity

BUY THE BOOK - A WRITER’S TIME: Making The Time To Write

In this Film Courage video interview, producer/author Dr. Ken Atchity shares his 3 rules beginning screenwriters must know. He says one main rule is the most important and all great filmmakers exhibit it in every scene.

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#screenwriting #screenplay #writing

[Stiert]

That person lurking in the background is a horror movie of its own

[jimdandy]

1) Everything must be connected to everything else,
2) dramatic order is the only order that matters and
3) the audience is the most important character in the film when timing dramatic order. It's what they paid for.

[coloaten]

I confess, I've never really thought of the audience as the most important character, or any character at all! Now that I've spent a couple of minutes thinking about it, it seems obvious that this is the correct approach. I'm going to try and see every scene through the eyes of an audience - what they would think/feel - and hopefully it will make a positive difference to my writing!

[anthonydavis]

The public knows more about movie making than they realize. You, sir, knew how to state it.

[moovieman]

I agree, the audience is the most important thing to consider when writing a screenplay. I remember watching the matrix and that scene where Morpheus is explaining What is reality to neo. The audience was dead silent. It’s like everybody was paying attention not just Neo.

[silverrainbow]

As an audience, I disagree...I absolutely HATE when something is coming out of the blue, completely illogical and makes no sense. I cringe and get frustrated because I feel exactly like somebody thought that I thought I paid MY FUCKING MONEY just to be scared and not enjoy the complexity of the movie like a person with a brain.

And I'm not trying to deny this man's knowledge I just give my personal opinion as an audience member.

[Amelia_PC]

"Do you think of the audience as the most important character?" Nope. My opinion is, the audience is a very important collaborator. They are above the most important character, they are creators as well, since they're experiencing and interpreting the story (how they read/watch/play show how the story is perceived by other people). Again, it's MY impression when I interact with them, not necessarily a "universal truth".

[timchamberlain]

I tend to struggle mightily if I try to write for the amorphous blob that is "the audience" but I have tremendous success if I can narrow my focus to an individual to be my audience, like trying to write a short story my mom would enjoy reading and having her in mind throughout that writing process.

[AndersonProductReviews-eimj]

All my attention went to the person walking in the door and moving around in the back ground.
And that just taught me another important thing about 'movies', or how the mind works.
When dude roaming around in the back ground, whatever Dr Ken was saying became gurgle...

[tashadfowler]

When writing/ directing a character I need to be able to relate to their behavior and action as if it was me myself in that situation and a lot of directors and writers fail at presenting that to the audience...you get more fear and scare out of them trying logically make the best decision only to fail.

[Bawzwel]

"The audience is the main character in the story, not the characters..."

Thank you!!!!

[Baramoch]

Everything has to connect. Except for time and space, we'll figure that out.

[gmar]

For me, I go by three rules when it comes to writing a script for a movie or just a movie in general:

1) it must be a good story, an interesting story and it moves forward. No one wants to be bored.
2) it must be perfectly casted
3) it must have entertainment value

[BabyBearRudy]

I’m first so I make a wish, and that wish is to be a successful screenplay writer 🙌🏼

[rithicadevireddy]

Hands down best advice on your channel 👏

[AllThingsFilm]

Great advice. The example from Hitchcock's "The Birds", was a great way to convey his suggestions.

[haldenkepple]

This guy is very clear and transparent with making his points

[mustafamahdixiii]

"The audience is the main character." Genius 👍🏾

[mickkollins]

I like this guy..a lot..Sage wisdom and experience right there!

[arzabael]

What a wonderful mantra to keep front-of-mind. “The audience is the main character”. Thats one of the only fixed rules there are I would imagine.